


know you make me feel alright

by uai



Category: Hannibal (TV)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Post-Fall (Hannibal), Trans Will Graham
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-10
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:42:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22198033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/uai/pseuds/uai
Summary: Will starts to get used to his new life.
Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter
Comments: 8
Kudos: 67
Collections: 2019 Eat The Rude Secret Santa





	know you make me feel alright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [binmundane](https://archiveofourown.org/users/binmundane/gifts).



> I hope everyone had fun at the holidays and that 2020 will treat you well! 
> 
> Thanks to Yeahyouwish for beta reading and to clockworkcorvids for doing the r/RoastMe :)

Dying has a tendency to change what people think about things. After falling, Will Graham discovers most of them, some easily, others not so much.

The tiredness isn't unfamiliar to a man whose empathy has nearly driven him insane more than once, one who has a history of sleep disturbed by nightmares more often than not, and yet none of that seems to compare to how he feels now, four days later, having just found a safe place to stay. As if abandoning his entire life isn't enough to mentally exhaust anyone, he has to deal with wounds, he has to deal with running away, he has to deal with supplies and Hannibal and protection.

First comes the not at all simple matter of survival, though Hannibal - from personal experience, he imagines - guides him through that. Details aren't something he cares to think of, nothing but the fact that they made it and found temporary shelter while finding everything else they would need.

The nearby city is an easy target. They take only what they need - food, bandages, painkillers, and his hormones, things a person such as Alana would call his basest daily needs, wrongly. Purchasable, perhaps, but he needed more. At this point, he could admit it. His mind craved Hannibal.

With all they needed then, it had been time to find a more permanent hideout - which leads them to this cabin. It's not abandoned so much as it is a summer vacation home, used to view the lake that lies not far from it while it is loveliest, Hannibal assured him upon their arrival.

And he trusts Hannibal. 

Hannibal, who had given up his freedom for him. Like Will, he has needs, but a free mind would suffice, give him what a free body couldn’t: Will’s willing company. Now, while in the eyes of the law they had absolutely nothing, from their points of view, anything they don’t have is something they can live without.

The taste of Francis’s blood lingers on his tongue despite having long been washed away - he doesn’t think it will ever leave, not when so much had changed with Francis’s corpse on the ground and Hannibal’s cheek on his hair. He doesn’t want it to, either.

What he does want upon waking up to no immediate duties is to be close to Hannibal. Close enough that the rest of the world, the past, present and future all fade away, leaving nothing and no one else in his mind. His bruises should get in the way, but they’re the last thing on his mind as he shuffles across the cabin to where the other lies, seemingly asleep. 

He expects Hannibal to wake up with his presence, doesn't mind the eyes on him as he carefully gets settled beside him on the makeshift bed (it's mostly a mix of blankets and clothes that hadn't fit him well enough for his tastes), feels the heavy breath that leaves Hannibal as he presses closer. He loosely wraps an arm around Hannibal, unsure of how far he's allowed to go, but Hannibal quickly makes sure he knows there are no boundaries that can't be crossed by pulling Will into his personal space so Will's head is on his shoulder again, their position quite similar to how it had been before the fall.

An amusing thought, Will finds, considering that nothing will ever be the same again. 

There should be pain. He knows it's there, somewhere in his body, hidden by the all encompassing presence that Hannibal exudes even after three years imprisoned. He suspects that, much like himself, Hannibal feels that this is the most comfort he's ever found in his life and won't let something as ordinary as pain get in their way. 

It's only proper, then, that Will do what he feels is right. There's nothing to hide between them now, no more masquerading or dancing around each other, and if he wants Hannibal to be straightforward with him, he has to start by being the same with him. As soon as the thought crosses his mind, he tilts his head, brushing his lips against Hannibal's unshaven jaw to express his intent, and surely enough that's all he needed to do. 

The definition of it is that of a kiss, to an outsider it looks like it, but Will feels Hannibal's lips on him like a promise. That he will be himself, he will have control and everything he needs, and Will hopes he manages to communicate that he has all he needs now. He understands who he is and he’s free to be that man, now. There’s no Jack, Alana or anyone else to tell him who they think he should be anymore.

It’s exactly what he needs: comfort without pressure, something new and familiar all at once, completely  _ real _ . It's himself in ways he hadn't been with Molly, had refused to see back then. That isn’t to say it’s not physical, only that Will is still too tired and the feeling is fresh, exciting enough to make him want to dive into it and stay there, which he knows is a possibility, now.

They can stay in this cabin for a while, doing nothing but holding each other, with no concern for the world that spins outside, swift and unforgiving. Here, it’s just the two of them, knowing - and loving, he can admit it now - each other as they are, as what they can be, as who they want to be. This isn’t the first or the last step towards the life Hannibal had long promised him, but they’re close enough that he doesn’t feel like he’s swimming against the current anymore.

There are no expectations, no need for pretense or holding back. The future lies ahead of them, a hopeful mystery, and whatever comes their way, be it a dragon, the FBI, or what is bound to be the sensitive matter of a grocery list, there is nothing the two of them can't face when together.


End file.
